Gould prepares for cold kicks

Friday

Nov 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 30, 2007 at 6:49 AM

Chicago Bears place-kicker Robbie Gould watched Monday night's Miami-Pittsburgh NFL game at the Steelers' Heinz Field, and he was glad he wasn't there.

Chicago Bears place-kicker Robbie Gould watched Monday night's Miami-Pittsburgh NFL game at the Steelers' Heinz Field, and he was glad he wasn't there.
Rain that night and numerous recent high school and college games left the field torn up, slippery and soaked. Field-goal attempts, prior to Jeff Reed's 24-yarder that gave the Steelers a 3-0 win with 17 seconds left, were more comical than accurate. Footing made it nearly impossible to kick anything over 30 yards.
"You feel bad for them, playing in a foot of rain, but you still have to make it through that situation," Gould said.
Gould got to nail his fifth career game-winner a day earlier against Denver at Soldier Field, on a much more playable surface.
For now. He knows that heading into December, he'll probably get his turn to battle the elements.
"About the only thing that changes is your distance on field goals -- that's Chicago weather," he said. "You practice in it all the time. You know what you're going to get and you adapt.
"(Head coach) Lovie (Smith) always talks about it being our home field advantage, and that's exactly what it is. We practice in it all the time. Last week we practiced in the snow and rain; that's what gives us the upper hand when teams come to Soldier Field."
Three of Gould's game-winners have come in overtime.
Whoopee.
"I don't even count them," he said of game-winners. "It doesn't matter to me how many I have. I just want to go out there and do my job.
"(Holder) Brad (Maynard) and (snapper) Pat (Mannelly) have been great all year long, and without them it wouldn't have been as easy. I'm very fortunate to have them around me, and the guys blocking up front have been great. Whether it's a game-winner or not, I just want to go out there and do my job the best I can."
Gould has made 20-of-24 field goals and all 23 PATs for 83 points. Two of his misses were over 50 yards.
In colder weather, Gould said the ball doesn't travel as far.
"When you get to 40, 30, 10 or negative-degree weather, that's obviously something you're going to encounter as a kicker," he said. "But we practice it all the time, so game days are no different than Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays."
Reed Schreck is the NFL writer for the Rockford Register Star. Contact him at 815-987-1381 or rschreck@rrstar.com.

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